ArticleJournal of clinical medicine2023
MDS-Related Anemia Is Associated with Impaired Quality of Life but Improvement Is Not Always Achieved by Increased Hemoglobin Level.
Article in Journal of clinical medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparison of safety and efficacy of liberal versus restrictive red blood cell transfusion thresholds on the quality of life in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of hematology · 2026Pooled it
- Development and early feasibility testing of machine-learning algorithms to non-invasively assess hemoglobin levels.npj biomedical innovations · 2026Article
- Understanding the evolving role of early palliative care in myelodysplastic syndromes: a 2026 narrative review.Annals of hematology · 2026Review
- Survival and quality of life in patients with lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes exposed to erythropoiesis-stimulating agents: an observational cohort study.The Lancet. Haematology · 2025Observational
- Psychometric properties and meaningful change thresholds for the QOL-E instrument in patients with myelodysplastic neoplasms.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
23 authors at 17 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Quality of life is impaired in MDS, but the role of hemoglobin level is unclear. To study the Hb-QoL correlation at diagnosis and 1 year later, patients filled out the EQ-5D questionnaire, assessing their mobility, self care, daily activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression, using scores of 0 (normal), 1 (mild/moderate), or 2 (poor). They also evaluated their health using a visual analogue scale, scoring from 0 (poor) to 100 (excellent). The anemia subgroups were: none/normal (Hb ≥ 12.5 g/dL), mild (10 ≤ Hb < 12.5), moderate (9 ≤ Hb < 10), severe (8 ≤ Hb < 9), or very severe (Hb < 8). LR-MDS patients (n = 127) and inpatient controls (n = 141) participated. The anemic patients had a poor QoL and the MDS patients had a lower QoL with a lower Hb. The controls had no QoL difference among the various anemia subgroups. In addition, the MDS QoL sharply decreased with an Hb of < 9. The MDS patients showed a wide QoL variability, i.e., different QoL scores in the same Hb subgroup, suggesting that other factors affect QoL (e.g., age and comorbidities). After 1 year (n = 61), the QoL was still poor for most MDS patients (including 27 patients with an increased Hb). In summary: (1) a poor QoL in MDS-anemia is non-linear, suggesting other influencing factors on QoL. (2) The sharp QoL drop with Hb < 9 g/dL challenges the transfusion Hb threshold. (3) The QoL in anemic MDS patients might differ from that in non-MDS patients. (4) Raising Hb, while recommended, does not guarantee an improved QoL.
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